


Elevated

by IFoundPeaceInDrowning



Category: Tiny Meat Gang (Band)
Genre: Best Friends, Feelings, Friendship, M/M, Platonic Relationships, Self Confidence Issues, but maybe a little more, just some fluffy shit idk
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-20
Updated: 2019-10-20
Packaged: 2020-12-24 11:37:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,309
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21098852
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IFoundPeaceInDrowning/pseuds/IFoundPeaceInDrowning
Summary: Cody and Noel are both feeling down about themselves, and only they can make each other feel better.





	Elevated

“You’re not as funny on your own channel.” Noel had heard this a hundred times before. He’s shared his explanation—that it’s easier when you’re riffing off someone else, it’s less pressure on someone else’s channel because you’re not worried about lighting, camera angle, etc. But after seeing a dozen comments like this on the last solo video on his channel, he’d gotten in his head and his confidence was shaken. He couldn’t brush off those comments like he used to. He started thinking that maybe he isn’t that funny on his own. Maybe he’s only funny when he’s riffing off someone else. Maybe he’s only funny when he’s with Cody. Maybe Cody’s been carrying Noel’s comedy career this entire time.

It’s not like it’s the first time he’s felt second to Cody. He always comes second. People say “Cody and Noel,” not “Noel and Cody.” Cody gets the individual interviews about himself and his career. Noel has never been asked to do an interview without Cody. Cody’s channel obviously has way more subscribers than Noel’s. To be fair, Noel doesn’t put as much effort into his channel as Cody; he’s more focused on Twitch streaming, but still. The facts are all there, right in front of him. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Cody could thrive on his own, but Noel would be struggling if it weren’t for Cody. He’d be nothing.

These thoughts had been spiraling through Noel’s head all day. He was supposed to see Cody in a half hour, so he tried to put these thoughts to rest, at least for the day. If he didn’t, Cody knows him well enough that he’d immediately notice something was wrong with Noel, and he’s a good enough friend that he wouldn’t let the matter rest until Noel admitted what’s bothering him so they could talk it out and he could make Noel feel better.

Noel took a final hit of weed. He already felt stoned but wanted to make sure he was as high as possible so he could fully suppress his negative thoughts and anxiety. And it worked—until Cody knocked on the door. 

\- - -

Noel had to be the closest thing to perfect Cody had ever known. He’s good at _everything_. He’s undeniably handsome, insanely funny, an unironically amazing rapper, and all around smooth and cool as hell. Aside from comedic reasons, Cody doesn’t think he’s ever seen Noel do something not smooth or uncool. The way he talks is cool, he’s a good dancer, a good rapper, a good songwriter, a good producer, he can even sing well. He’s never awkward, he doesn’t stumble over his words like Cody does, he doesn’t let his anxiety get in his way. Cody has always envied Noel’s way of making everything look so goddamn easy. Cody felt like he had to try so hard sometimes to fit in, to be cool, to get good at something like rapping. Noel just made it all look so easy. And Cody knew he wasn’t alone in thinking this way about his friend. He always saw comments on their YouTube videos of people, mostly girls, talking about how sexy Noel’s voice is, how he’s so great of a rapper he could and should make serious rap music without Cody, how “cute” it was in the “Walk Man” music video when Cody tried to copy Noel’s dancing but couldn’t, how “adorable” it is that Cody looks so proud whenever Noel laughs at something he says. Cody hated reading that stuff. He loved his best friend and was proud of him for always excelling at the things he set his mind to, but it was hard for Cody to be friends with someone like that. It was hard for him to not feel second best to Noel.

Cody had always felt this way around Noel, but it had been getting to him a lot lately. He figured it was because he wasn’t exactly in a great place in life. He hadn’t been eating well or working out, so he felt like shit. He found himself in a bit of creative slump, only thinking about more That’s Cringe videos he and Noel could do, but nothing he could make by himself.

Today in particular, Cody felt like doing nothing but lay in bed and watch bad Netflix movies and be sad and feel bad about himself. But he couldn’t do that; he had already told Noel he’d come over to film a new Love Island video. He took a deep breath as he stood outside Noel's apartment, trying his best to push all his negative thoughts to the back of his mind before knocking on the door.

\- - -

Noel was at the door seconds after Cody knocked.

“Suuup,” Cody said, entering Noel’s apartment and removing his shoes.

“Nothin’ much, just chillin’.”

“Sig, dude,” Cody responded. Noel smiled to himself and rolled his eyes. Cody still hadn’t quite given up that bit when he was alone with Noel. “You ready to record?”

“Yeah, everything’s set up. Just gotta adjust the lighting real fast.”

They’re silent as Noel fiddles with the lights. Noel is in his head, pepping himself up, telling himself to be on his A-game today so he doesn’t get overshadowed by Cody in their video. Cody is picking at his cuticles, running similar thoughts through his head. They’re not competitive, not trying to one-up each other, they just want to gain some confidence back.

Noel settles back into his seat. “Ready?” he asks.

“Yep.”

Noel pushes record.

“What’s up, y’all. It’s your boys, back with episode two of our new season of Love Island.”

“Whadduuup,” Cody chimes in.

Noel continues in a British accent. “Last time we played, Codel paired up with Gary, so now they’re gettin’ a bit of one-on-one time.”

“Gonna have a bit of a chat,” Cody says, also in a British accent.

“Let’s see where this goes.”

As they play, Noel concentrates hard to get in the zone, trying to be quick on his feet and think of jokes as soon as opportunities present themselves. Cody does the same and, in addition, is conscious of his reaction to Noel’s laughter, working hard to ensure he’s not looking too proud when Noel laughs at something funny he says. But at one point, he can’t help it. He just got done rapping a couple bars to follow up a corny comment made by Rocco, and Noel exploded with laughter, turning away from Cody and clutching his stomach as he did. Cody, with a big stupid grin on his face, watched his friend fall apart over his joke. Only when Noel finally composed himself did Cody realize how hard he was smiling. He quickly wiped the grin from his face and refocused on the game, making sure he didn’t miss an opportunity for a good joke.

Noel wasn’t having a much easier time. He had been doing well at staying in the zone, telling one joke after another. Hearing Cody’s almost incessant laughter made him feel good. But by the middle of the gameplay, Cody was on fire. Every joke he made was hitting hard, so much so that Noel couldn’t even try to stifle his laughter. The more time he spent laughing at Cody’s jokes, the less he felt he was able to make some of his own. He felt himself falling behind, making less jokes than Cody, and the ones he did make, he didn’t feel were nearly as funny. By the end of the episode, Noel had practically given up on himself. He forced himself to be upbeat for the outro, even continuing the British accent for most of it, but he was relieved when he was finally able to turn the camera off.

“Oh my god, dude, that was really fucking fun,” Cody said, still getting the last bits of laughter out of him.

“Yeah, it was,” Noel forced as he started turning off the film lights. “You were really fucking funny today. Like always.” Noel heard the faintest hint of bitterness in his voice. Cody must have noticed it too, because Noel heard him shift in his seat.

“Well, you were funny too, dude. You’re always funny, even when you’re not trying to be.”

Noel let out a small laugh, partially at Cody’s relentless effort to make Noel feel good about himself, but also at the voice in his head telling himself it’s not true.

“You’re just saying that,” Noel said, letting his negative emotions get the best of him. “We both know you were way funnier than me just now.” He’s still putting away equipment, moving slowly now to avoid having to turn around and face his friend.

“Hey. That’s not true,” Cody said firmly enough to get Noel’s attention. Noel turned and was surprised to see Cody’s face ridden with concern. He instantly felt guilty for trying to brush off Cody’s compliment.

“Seriously, Noel. You’re always funny. Always. Everyone else thinks so too.” Now Cody was the one sounding bitter.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Noel asked, a bit harsher than intended.

“I just mean that everyone always talks about how funny you are. They always say you’re undeniably, naturally funny. You don’t even have to try; you’re just able to think of things on the fly that are so clever and goddamn hilarious. It’s almost unfair sometimes how easy it is for you.” Cody immediately regretted that last sentence. He suddenly felt vulnerable. Way too vulnerable for his own comfort.

Meanwhile, that last sentence gave Noel a pang of guilt. These comments didn’t get thrown out often, but he had seen them on a couple of their videos before. He just never really gave them much thought. He figured there were plenty of comments like this about Cody too. He wasn't entirely sure he'd ever seen any…but he always assumed they existed.

“You’re just as funny if not more, dude. You have to know that. Otherwise, you wouldn’t have 4 million subscribers.” Noel turned away from Cody at this. He couldn’t let him see the jealously he was feeling.

“Three point eight,” Cody said quietly, voice trailing off. He wanted to say something else, something that would make Noel feel better, something about how Cody having more subscribers didn’t equate to him being funnier, but he had nothing. He couldn’t argue about their subscriber count. He did have way more subscribers than Noel, but he didn’t understand why. Sure, he made more videos and put a bit more effort into his channel, but all he ever saw on Noel’s videos were comments of people wondering why he doesn’t have more subscribers, and comments on his own videos asking for more videos with Noel. He got plenty of comments quoting funny lines from his videos, or adding to the commentary he was making, but never any comments like Noel got on a regular basis about how he’s a natural comedian and one of the funniest people on YouTube. He thought about saying all of this to Noel, but decided against it.

“I may have more subscribers, but I definitely don’t feel funnier than you. I don’t think most people think I’m funnier than you either. The comments speak for themselves.”

Cody paused and waited for Noel to say something, but he didn’t. He just picked at some loose threads on his jeans.

“Look,” Cody continued, “I feel like this a lot with you. That I’m not as funny. I get it, I really do. In fact, I feel like I’m not as good as you when it comes to most things. It’s a shitty feeling.”

Noel felt his heartstrings pulling. It hurt him to learn that his best friend felt like this, especially since it wasn’t true.

“I feel like that all the time with you. I _always_ feel second to you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, man.”

They both sat silently for a while, mulling over what the other had just revealed. It’s Cody who broke the silence.

“Well…I guess that’s why people love when we do stuff together so much, you know? I think we just bring out the best in each other when it comes to comedy. Like, we’re funny on our own, but we have really good chemistry when we’re filming and doing bits. It just takes our comedy to the next level.”

Noel thought about that for a moment before speaking.

“Yeah…like, I think everyone loves seeing us individually do anything comedy related, but not as much as they love seeing us do that stuff together. Because, you’re right, doing comedy stuff together just elevates it.”

Cody continued. “I mean, that’s the whole point of TMG, right? That’s why we built so much of our careers around each other. It just works. And it’s way more fun doing shit together than it is apart.”

Noel smiled to himself at this. It was true. It was way more fun to make videos with Cody than it was by himself. He loved doing comedy with Cody. Their videos, the podcast, their music, their shows, they were all insanely fun to do because of Cody. He loved working with Cody. He felt like he had the best job in the world because he got to do everything with his best friend.

“You’re right,” he said. “I love working with you, man. Plain and simple. All that other shit just doesn’t matter. I need to remind myself of that sometimes.”

“Yeah, me too,” Cody agreed.

Once again, they were silent for a minute as they collected their thoughts.

“Man, that whole conversation was corny as shit,” Noel laughed. Cody did too, nodding his head in agreement.

“Well, I’m gonna make it even more corny by saying I love you, brother.”

Noel laughed and turned to face his best friend. “I love you too, dude.”


End file.
